# Chapter 20

It was a knock on the door that scared Michael. Nobody in a year came to that house. And in much longer, nobody knocked to enter. The knock was silent but it was enough to make Michael jump. It sounded different than the arrival of a contact-less food delivery. Which was more like a sound of a slide with a thomp in the end. This sound, on the other hand, was most definitely somebodies knocking. A person was standing on the other side of that door and waiting for it to be opened.

At first Michael didn't do a thing. He kept laying in his bed, hoping that whoever that was would go away. Pretending not to be there. Under his bed, he recently connected the spine device's charger. So he was getting ready to walk again. On the surface level Michael wanted to get more depressed. But deep inside he understood that he really wanted to get rid of the depression. So he prepared himself the sensation of walking again. Perhaps even running.

Then a number of thoughts came through his mind. This could indeed be Mr. Toilet, but how could you be sure that he has good intentions? Michael had a lot of money saved because of how little he used it. Maybe Mr. Toilet is here for his money? And if it's not Mr. Toilet? What if it's one of the crackers? What if it's police? What if it's... The stream of consciousness was endless. Michael was finally realizing what a mistake it was to tell somebody on the mega-net his information.

Good, Michael thought, if he gets all my money from me, I will feel miserable. His subconsciousness disagreed with him on whether it's "good". If it's somebody who will do me harm, I will feel miserable. I need to feel more miserable than this. That's good. Michael stood up. He hesitated. There was something magical about standing up again. He frowned at it.

The knock repeated itself. The fear inside Michael grew and grew, but he still managed to make a step. Then another. And then another. The feeling of walking made his subconsciousness smile, while making his consciousness frown. He slowly reached the door when he heard the third knocking. This time accompanied by a phrase - "Monkey, it's me, Toilet. Are you there?". Michael's hand was shaking as it reached the door's handle. He unlocked the door and then slowly opened it, avoiding to see who's on the other end. Michael never seen Toilet in the real life. Only his avatar. So he had no idea how Toilet looked. 

Michael prepared for the worst. He saw as some of the trash glided out the door. And he saw a peculiar pare of dirty, naked feet being covered by it. It was it, Michael thought, the moment of truth. Michael looked up as quickly as he could, met a man with his eyes and said - "I will not hesitate, take all my money.". While the man was getting confused, Michael realized a couple of things: The man was about his age, maybe a bit older. He would give him, by his looks, exactly twenty; The man didn't wear shoes; The man didn't wear a shirt; The man didn't wear anything at all apart from a little hat that covered his ears. For some reason, Michael didn't see it as something strange.

The man said - "Ah... Well... Monkey? What do you mean?"

"Okay, my name is Michael."

"Yeah, you told me that."

Michael remembered it. They spoke about personal information earlier. The man's name was actually Jerold Butters.

Michael said fearfully - "Ah... Jerold? How about saying real names? Getting used to them?"

"Okay" - said Jerold.

In the times when Michael lived, Nudity was absolutely legal in all of the mega-structures. Not only that, anything related to nudity was deemed natural and therefor unillegalizable. So it was not that strange for Michael to see Jerold as completely naked. It was more like an interesting quark of Jerold's character. No more. Even though it was still rather unusual.

Jerold looked at Michael's clothes. He felt the smell that radiated from them. He didn't like it. Finally he said - "Do we go outside, or should I help you to clean all this mess?". Michael thought about it. Cleaning the mess constituted getting rid of the depression. Going outside could potentially get rid of the depression too. Wait a minute, he thought, so Jerold is nice? No. This can't be. He has to be terrible. Michael said - "I want to get more depressed. Can you help me with that?". Michael's subconsciousness now frowned at him.

Jerold thought about it. Michael was in a depression for a very long time. The cause of the depression was something that Michael found himself guilty of. Which makes him want to be depressed. He though about the mess, the smell of the shirt. Finally he said - "Well, your shirt sure stinks. If you go out with it on you, people will look at you in a weird way. And this may cause you shame and eventually depression."

Michael said - "Thanks." - and stepped out of the door. He locked it and they went outside.

Let me illustrate the future for you. A sponge-like city made of structures built on top of structures. With bridges and roads suspended between them. High in the middle of it, there is an apartment complex with parks and trees and schools and little shops. People are happily walking around. Kids playing. On the background you can still see the mega-structures forming a sponge. Letting you know that you are very high in the sky, but not exactly how high. And in the middle of all it, two people are walking. One is completely naked ( apart from a hat ). The other smells like hell, since he didn't wash his clothes for a year.

Michael was blinded by the sun. Glimpses of it penetrated the sponge above him. 

"So..." - said Michael - "...You are a nudist?"

"Wasn't that evident by the choice of my avatar?"

Michael nodded. He thought about it. Mr. Toilet's avatar is a man sitting on a toilet. Exposing himself, so to speak.

"And..." - said Michael - "...it's not cold?"

"I'm wearing a hat." - said Jerold, pointing at his hat.

Even though they spoke a lot before that about all kinds of technology related topics. Now there was nothing to talk about. The awkward silence continued as they walked through the park.

A group of children passed right by them, all starring at Jerold, some cracked a laugh. Even though it was completely legal to walk around naked. Most people preferred to be clothed. It was a good protection from the elements. And most people had complexes related to their own bodies. So the group of children looking at Jerold, were kind of surprised a bit. Michael realised that they didn't have any reaction about his smell. Nobody covered the nose or ran away. But he saw the awkwardness in Jerold's posture as some of the kids cracked a laugh. He thought about it.

"They don't seem to care about my smell" - said Michael.

Jerold didn't have time to come up with a response as he saw Michael unbutton his shirt. Michael threw his shirt away into the void of the mega-structures. Some of the smell gone away with it. Michael took his pants down and threw it in the other direction. Shame penetrated him from all sides. The idea was to get an awkward feeling, but for Michael's surprise, he liked it. It was something so wild that he just felt up will all kinds of chemicals. Dopamine was rushing. Adrenalin was rushing. Now both Michael and Jerold we fully naked ( apart from the hat on Jerold's head and Michael's spine-device). 

Michael started running like a wild animal. Jerold barely could keep up with him. There was so much excitement in Michael that he could barely think. Hell, he was drunk from it. He ran and screamed - "Whoaaaaahhuuuuoooaaaahhh!!!".

Then he stopped to catch a breath. Jerold was still running toward Michael. It gave Michael a brief minute to think about what he is doing. A moment to realize that he is feeling good and that he likes feeling good. Some people that passed by did looked at him strange. But instead of it making him depressed, it made him proud. He got rid of his depression. A tear came out of his eyes. A tear of joy. Jerold finally reached him.

"Speaking about money..." - said Jerold - "How about getting something tasty to eat?". Michael looked at Jerold with a boyish excitement. He yelled - "Ice-cream! Candies! A hamburger!". And both of them went. Jerold knew what his mission was. It was to bring Michael back to normality. Back to a stage where he was capable of helping him and others with software developing and other things. And that the next step would be to help Michael clean his house. It was something unpleasant on the surface level. But Jerold knew: If he helps people he feels good inside. It was his way of coping with depression.
